Tell Me A Story
by AchikaMiyu
Summary: It's night and Alex and Evie refuse to get to sleep. The only remedy is in a nice bedtime story spun from the imagination of their mother. But what the kids don't know is that their mother's imagination is very close to reality.


**Tell Me A Story**

_It's said that a person can become a hero by slaying a dragon or rescuing a damsel in distress. That is true for most heroes, but not all heroes in the city of Midgar had to face those sort of trials. The people of Midgar and the world learned that bravery is the ability to face death and heroism is the will to fight, despite death. A decade ago, the world and city were threatened with complete destruction; but heroes came from all across the world and through all walks of life to save the planet they held dear to their hearts. And from this great victory arose legends and fables about heroes that would spin the imagination for years to come . . .

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"Alex, give me back my dollie," a little girl with long black hair whined.

"Only after you give me back my magrod," the boy held the little doll menacingly in the air.

"I told you, I don't have it, now give it back."

"Alex, Evie. Please stop fighting and go to bed now. Your mom and dad wanted you in bed twenty minutes ago," a woman in a blue-suit tried to say with authority.

"But Jane, Alex has my dollie. Make him give it back," Evie said pointing feverously to her doll held hostage in her brother's hands.

"Jane, tell the little brat to give me back my magrod!"

Jane threw her arms up in the air as she watch the two children run around the bedroom chasing each other. Sighing, the woman pulled out her magrod and flipped the switch until electricity sparkled at the end of the stick and brightened the room with a dangerous blue hue. The two children shrieked with fright after hearing the whir of electricity and hid together behind one of the beds before cautiously peeping their heads up.

"Whoa," the two children said in awe.

Jane blew strands of her flaxen hair out of her face as she smiled triumphantly for finally stopping the children from fighting. She had no problem handling armed men, assassins or even the occasional sociopath bent on trying to take over the world. But when it came to watching over the President's kids, she was deathly afraid of what they would do to her.

"Okay now kids, go ahead and get ready for bed," Jane said satisfied that she had their attention.

"But, what about my magrod?"

"And my dollie?"

"Well, er. We'll, we'll worry about that in the morning, okay?" Jane laughed uneasily.

"I don't want to wait that long," Evie whined.

Jane scratched her head and tried to frantically think of what to do to ease the little girl's worries. None of her Turk training had ever prepared her for a situation like this one. Luckily for Jane, salvation came in the form of the children's concerned mother walking through the door that very instant.

"Alexander and Evelyn, are you two giving Miss Jane a hard time?"

"No Mommy!" the two said in unison.

The raven haired woman crossed her arms as she eyed her two children suspiciously while they giggled behind the bed.

"Were they behaving themselves?"

"Um, yeah, sure they were. Alex was just looking for his magrod and, er, we were all looking for it, hehe. Right kids?" Jane said quickly hiding her magrod behind her back.

"Alex, you put your toy magrod away in the chest right here," the woman held up Alex's magrod in her hand.

"Mom, it's not a toy! Uncle Reno gave it to me," Alex rolled his eyes as he grabbed the magrod.

"Alright, alright. I know. Now come along you two, off to bed."

"Yes, Mom."

Alex shoved Evie's doll in her face and stomped off to bed as Evie stuck her tongue out at her brother and crawled into her own bed.

"Thank you Mrs. President. I'm not really that good with children," Jane confessed.

"Oh, I think you're doing fine. And please, just call me Tifa."

"Thanks Tifa."

Tifa walked over to her two children and tucked them into bed as she gave each of them a peck on the cheek.

"Mommy, can you tell me a bedtime story?" Evie asked sweetly with bright crimson eyes.

"Yeah, me too!" Alex sat up in bed.

"Okay, what sort of story do you want to hear?" Tifa said as she sat down on Evie's bed.

"Oh! A story about a beautiful princess and her handsome prince," Evie smiled.

"No! Tell a story about a really powerful hero who kills dozens of badguys and is just really cool," Alex crawled closer to the edge of his bed.

"No! Princess story!"

"Badguys!"

"Princess!"

"Badguys!"

"Okay, okay! I get the picture. How about I tell you a story that has a prince, a princess and badguys," Tifa laughed.

"Oh, is the prince the really powerful hero who kills dragons and monsters?" Alex waved around his magrod.

"Does he rescue the princess and marry her?" Evie squealed.

"Yes, the prince does all that. In fact, the prince, who eventually becomes king in this story is everything that you can imagine and much more," Tifa said dramatically.

"Wow, really?" the children gasped.

"Is he stronger than Uncle Cloud?" Alex asked.

"Is he cooler than Uncle Vincent?"

"Uncle Vincent's cool, but not as cool as Reno!"

"Nuh-uh! Uncle Vincent's way cooler than Reno," Evie pouted.

"Is not!'

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Alex! Evie!" the older woman quickly snapped.

"Yes, Mommy," the two children squeaked as they stopped their bickering.

"To let you know, yes, he's stronger than Uncle Cloud and cooler than Uncle Reno and Vincent combined."

"Whoa!" the two children leaned forward in admiration.

"Now do you kids want to hear the story?"

The two children nodded excitedly as they waited for their mother to talk.

"Now, let's see if I remember how the story begins," Tifa sat pensively. "Ah, I have it. Once upon a time there was a wicked king who ruled over all the land. This king had a son whose heart was just as dark and just as black as his father's. The king and prince both thirsted for absolute power. They feared having it taken away from them and would stop at nothing to make sure that they remained on the throne. Because of this fear, they combed the lands for four wizards who could bring them all the power they needed.

"The first wizard controlled the birds in the sky and even the large birds that would carry people from one city to another. This wizard was fat and bald and told his birds only to do what the king wished. The second wizard controlled the great dragons that dwelled on the earth, threatening to unleash one on the citizens if they didn't obey the king. His laugh was like a dragon's roar and he had a long black beard and huge gut. The third wizard was actually a sorceress, who could cast evil spells and created monstrous creatures to threaten the citizens. She was the cruelest of them all and hated all the princesses in the world. It was said that her hatred for princesses was because she wanted to be a princess herself, but as everyone knows a sorceress could never be a princess.

"The last wizard was a very different man from all the other wizards. He was a good wizard who had the power to control the sun warming parts of the land that needed it. He was deemed the brightest of all the wizards knowing magic that could make children laugh with joy. The wizard was a quiet man and a young wizard with a small beard and no gut. But this wizard had a power that none of the other wizards knew about. He could build magical toys that walked and talked. This wizard disliked how the king and prince ran their kingdom and wished to change the kingdom to a peaceful land.

"The evil king and prince asked all the wizards to help him fight against a group of five knights who were trying to overthrow the king. These knights fought against the dragons and evil spells of the wizards and the sorceress. The knights were strong and wielded weapons akin to their strength. Their leader had a sword about as large as he was. Among these knights were three . . . no two princesses who fought alongside the brave knights. The princesses were like sisters, always watching out for the other and whispering girlish secrets into each other's ears. The seven of them fought everyday to save the people of the kingdom from the king's tyrannical rule.

"One day, the king asked the good wizard to take a part of the sun and make it fall on the warriors who opposed him. The good wizard objected to the king as he spoke, 'But sire, if I make part of the sun fall, it will destroy part of your kingdom.' The king merely laughed as he listened to the wizard. In a booming voice the king finally told the wizard, 'You will make a part of the sun fall or I will have the sorceress turn you into a cat.' The poor young wizard didn't want to be turned into a cat. So he unhappily obeyed the king's wishes and let a part of the sun fall."

"Oh no. Did it kill the knights and the princesses?" Evie held her breath.

"No, sweetie. It didn't."

"What happened next? Did the knights kick the evil king's butt?" Alex asked.

"I'll get to that. Now where did I leave off? Oh, I remember," Tifa cleared her throat. "The king was enraged that his plan didn't kill off all the knights. He summoned the wizard who controlled dragons and asked him to awaken the most fearsome dragon in all of the land: the Great Silver Dragon. The Great Silver Dragon was the largest and meanest dragon known to man. It had fangs that were as sharp as swords and burnt down villages with his flaming breath. It also had a fearsome power to summon a fiery ball of death onto the earth. The fat wizard obeyed the king's wishes and awoken the Great Silver Dragon. However, the Great Silver Dragon obeyed no one and the dragon killed the king and terrorized the kingdom.

"The two princesses and five knights did their best to protect the kingdom, but their powers were almost no match against the Great Silver Dragon. Also, the evil prince took over his father's position as king and vowed to kill the Great Silver Dragon and the knights that opposed him. With the evil prince and Great Silver Dragon after them, the heroes had to flee the kingdom to escape certain death.

"The Great Silver Dragon went on a path of destruction while the wizards and sorceress tried using their magic to destroy the horrible beast. The good wizard was saddened over the terror the dragon caused and knew that it was wrong for the king and the king's son to awaken him. The young wizard was also still saddened over the piece of the sun he had to drop on the kingdom, hurting people who had no part in this war.

"But the good wizard couldn't mourn for long, for the evil prince ordered him to use his magic to spy on the warriors and tell him everything the warriors were doing. Disguising himself as one of his magical toys, the wizard confronted the warriors and learned that the warriors were noble people trying to help the kingdom. Determined to make things right. The good wizard told them that he would help them in their fight against the Great Silver Dragon and find a way to overthrow the evil prince.

"However, one day the evil prince devised a trap to lure the warriors to their demise. He commanded the good wizard to help him with this plan. With a heavy heart, the wizard obeyed the evil prince fearing for his life and had to betray the warriors and lure them into the trap set by the evil prince. But the warriors knew the wizard was doing these things against his will as the good wizard told them of the prince's treat against his life. And so the warriors survived the evil prince's trap and pressed on in their quest to defeat the Great Silver Dragon with the help of the good wizard.

"Finally, the warriors found the Great Silver Dragon's lair. When they were about to enter the dragon's lair, the evil Prince and his wizards came and threatened the warriors. Their argument caused the Great Silver Dragon to awaken and with a thunderous roar, send rocks and wind bellowing out of his cave. The warriors had to retreat and were displaced as they all ran away from the dragon's lair.

"The good wizard worked hard to try and find all the warriors and bring them back together. However, once the wizard finally found the warriors, the evil prince had already captured one of the princesses and held her captive in a tall dark tower."

"Was it really, really tall?" Evie asked.

"Yes, it was one of the tallest towers in the land with nothing but the ocean below it."

"Were there sharks in the water?" Alex asked excitedly.

"Ah, yes, there were sharks in the water. Not only that, but the evil sorceress was threatening to turn the captured princess into a frog. Acting quickly, the good wizard told the warriors where the princess was being kept and with his magic, broke into the tower and freed the captured princess."

"Did the princess fall in love with the good wizard?" Evie giddily asked.

"No, not yet," Tifa laughed. "But let me finish and then you'll see, okay?"

Evie nodded her head while her brother merely rolled his eyes.

"The warriors, now reunited, set off again back to the Great Silver Dragon's lair to finally defeat the evil dragon. They freed one of the giant birds controlled by one of the wizards. One of the birds was befriended by one of the knights and they immediately became friends. The large bird willingly took the heroes anywhere they wished. They all joined together and had the support of the entire world. Even the evil Prince and his army came to fight the dragon because the dragon was far more fearsome than a group of heroes.

"All the wizards and sorceress tried all their magic against the dragon while the warriors charged at it with their weapons. Swords clanged and fires roared as everyone fought against the Great Silver Dragon. It was the greatest battle ever recorded in history."

"Did the good guys win?" Alex asked leaning forward on the edge of the bed.

"If you let me finish the story, then you'll find out, right?" Tifa winked.

"Oh, sorry," Alex blushed sheepishly while Evie giggled.

"The battle raged and the Great Silver Dragon attacked the wizards and the sorceress trying to swallow them up. The warriors, remembering how the good wizard had helped them, came to the good wizard's rescue. They were just in time too as the Great Silver Dragon devoured the two evil wizards and the sorceress. With only one wizard left to cast magic, the warriors fought harder. Then the Great Silver Dragon unleashed his most fearsome attack. He was going to summon a giant fireball to fall onto the kingdom. The warriors knew that they had to stop him before he succeeded. The leader of the group ran straight for the Great Silver Dragon and stabbed his sword straight through the dragon's heart. The dragon fell down dead on top of the evil Prince who was crushed by the dragon's weight and the battle was won."

"Yay! And then what happened?" both Alex and Evie asked.

"The kingdom celebrated the victory over the Great Silver Dragon as well as the downfall of the evil prince. The warriors returned to the kingdom with the crowds cheering them on as they paraded down the street. The kingdom wanted to make one of the heroes their new king and pleaded with the group to take over the kingdom. The warriors all thought that the good wizard should be king since he was the wisest of the group. Almost reluctantly, the good wizard agreed and he became the new king. The princess, who he saved from the evil prince, fell in love with the wizard and she became his queen after they both married. The new king and queen ruled the land justly and they all lived happily ever after. The End."

"Did they have kids Mommy?" Evie asked.

"Yes they did. They had a little prince and princess to bless their lives."

"I really liked that story. Can you tell it to us again?" Evie yawned.

"I don't think so pumpkin. You need to get to bed now. Maybe tomorrow night," Tifa gently kissed her daughter on the forehead as she smoothed out the girl's hair. Evie hugged her doll closer to her body before drifting off to sleep.

"Thanks Mom, that was a cool story," Alex smiled as he curled up under the blankets.

"I'm glad to hear that sweetie. Good night," Tifa kissed him on the head.

Tifa gave her children one last look and watched them safely slumbering in bed before turning off the lights to their bedroom. Jane flashed an appreciative smile as she sighed in satisfaction.

"Thank you so much for getting them to bed. They just wouldn't listen to me."

"Don't worry. They're good kids, but they're still just kids," Tifa pat the Turk and part-time baby-sitter on the back.

"I was wondering, where did you hear that story? It sounded really familiar, but not quite right," Jane asked, giving Tifa a thoughtful look.

"Well, I had to change it around a bit so it would suit the kids. It would bore them to death if they had to hear the real story."

"I guess that's why I'm not really good at baby-sitting, I would have told them the entire history of Meteor and probably would have bored them out of their minds. But thanks again Tifa. I think I can handle it from here," Jane saluted.

"Welcome. It's always good for a mother to check on her kids anyway."

Tifa walked down the hall until she came across the master bedroom with two Turks guarding the doors. The Turks gave her a quick salute as she warmly smiled at them. Through the double oak doors was her husband sitting up in bed reading through some reports while his reading glasses dangled precariously off his nose. The sight of his wife brought a smile to his face as he put the reports down and took off his glasses as Tifa bent down to give him a kiss. He was her husband, her prince, and her king.

"Are the kids finally in bed Tifa?"

"Yes they are Reeve. I had to tell them a story before they would finally get to sleep," Tifa said as she got under the covers next to her husband.

"It must have been a good story," Reeve smiled, grateful for the many happy years she and his children had brought him.

"Yes, it was."

"How does it end?"

"How else. Happily ever after, " Tifa kissed Reeve before turning off the lights.

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A/N: This story follows the same storyline as _Tears of a Clown _and _Smile of the Cheshire Cat_. I couldn't write it in the same style because I wanted it to sound more like a children's story that parents would read to their kids before they go to bed. This story really made me feel motherly, even though I don't have kids yet. I really can't wait until I do so I can start writing bedtime stories for them. But a good story about family is perfect for the Holiday Season. Happy Holidays and stay safe! 


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